Drayton Manor in Staffordshire, which is celebrating its 75th birthday today, started out as a modest family run park with simple rides, rowboats and a petting zoo.
Now, it is one of the region’s top tourist attractions, and to celebrate the occasion, it opened a new museum to share the history of the park with its visitors, with other celebrations taking place across the summer.
Victoria Lynn, the park’s managing director, said: “When we went back in through the archives we thought: “Why not open a museum and allow those memories to come back to our customers who have been coming here for decades and generations?”
“You do see grandparents walking around and they talk so fondly about when they were here in the park when it was just a lake and a couple of rides.”
The museum will display more than 200 archive photos, as well as artefacts and vintage memorabilia. Other events include fireworks on the first Saturday of each month, and live music and entertainment events.
The park opened in 1950, and was founded by George and Vera Bryan. It expanded over the decades, introducing thrill rides like Shockwave in 1994 – Europe’s first stand-up rollercoaster – and Stormforce 10 in 1999.
In 2008, Thomas Land was introduced, and the site turned into a full resort in 2011, when its four-star hotel opened. It is now part of the Looping Group, a company which is made up of 19 parks in Europe, and has 50 rides and attractions and a zoo.
